Shanthi J and Kayathri S
The purpose of this study was to investigate the bacterial etiology of urinary tract infections in one of the busiest hospitals of Tamil nadu. Bacterial identification was based on standard culture and biochemical characteristics of isolates. Antimicrobial was performed for all the isolates by disk diffusion method on the Mueller-Hinton agar plates with and without 10 μg of amoxy clav. Susceptibility test results were interpreted according to the criteria established by the Clinical & Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI). E. coli was the most frequent isolate throughout the period (36.1 % of the total isolates). It was followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus sp., and Streptococcus agalactiae. E. coli occurred more frequently in women (69.8%) than in men (61.4%). The lowest percentage of susceptibility of E. coli was manifested against piperacillin and ampicillin. An increase in the production of ESBL was observed. The pathogenicity of urinary tract infections and their susceptibility profiles are important to be evaluated in countries like India where a severe misuse of antibiotics at all levels in some places are observed.
